Snowballs in Hell

San Diego  San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders may have his Charter Revision Commission stacked with big-money establishment favorites, like ex-city schools superintendent Alan Bersin and GOP lawyer and political insider John Davies, but local libertarians are happy to have a one-man charter reformer of their own in Dick Rider. While the Sanders group is expected to rubber-stamp the mayor's continued stronghold on city hall, the outspoken Rider has come out with his own "wish list" of measures he'd take to clean up the chronic mess downtown. First up, "Require 2/3 vote on ALL bonds that obligate taxpayers. Currently loopholes allow the city (and county) to issue bonds using fake agencies that nominally are the bond issuer (stadium authority, for instance) -- without any taxpayer vote at all! It would include 'pension obligation bonds.' " Rider also calls for "an across the board, 25% reduction in employee pay (police would be an exception, as too many would pension out and/or leave). We WANT most of the other employees to leave -- including the firemen. Tough love, and tough sell." Other less-than-mainstream ideas from the onetime mayoral candidate: a ban on pro sports subsidies; the end of plans to build a new downtown library; and legalization of gambling. "As it now stands, we miss out on a huge tourist industry, and the Casino Indians are well on the way to owning every politician in the county. We MUST undermine their growing power that is based solely on their gambling monopoly. (We should NOT prohibit such Indian casinos -- they just should face competition)."Breaking Stories: Snowballs in Hell